The streak is over! The AL has the better group of closers thanks to its dominance at the top. However, there are lots of NL closers that are young and could make the NL the winner next season. Compare the $25 and under groups. The AL has Joe Borowski, Todd Jones, Troy Percival and George Sherrill. The NL has Manny Corpas, Matt Capps, Rafael Soriano and Bran Wilson.
Note the changes in dollar ranges. My experience has shown no closer to go for less than $10 on Draft Day. Some claimed this as a good reason to go to 5x5 and thus diminish the value of the closer. (Personally, recognizing how to value one in 4x4 would have done the same thing, but why examine things closely when you can just change the rules?)
However, I suspect the growing knowledge that 40% or so of closers turnover each season might begin to bring down these Draft Day values. I have certainly seen that increase the prices paid for the back-ups!
AL-Only Draft Values:
| $35+ | Mariano Rivera | Jon Papelbon | Joe Nathan | Francisco Rodriguez |
| JJ Putz | ||||
| $26-34 | Bobby Jenks | Huston Street | ||
| $18-25 | Todd Jones | Joe Borowski | Joakim Soria | |
| $8-$17 | Jeremy Accardo | CJ Wilson | Troy Percival | George Sherrill |
NL-Only Draft Values:
| $35+ | None | |||
| $26-34 | Takashi Saito | Jose Valverde | Jason Isringhausen | Francisco Cordero |
| Billy Wagner | Trevor Hoffman | |||
| $18-25 | Manny Corpas | Matt Capps | Kevin Gregg | Chad Cordero |
| Brad Lidge | Rafael Soriano | |||
| $8-$17 | Brian Wilson | Brandon Lyons | Kerry Wood | Eric Gagne |